Maya Weug to make F1 Academy debut with Prema

FRECA point-scorer Maya Weug completes the Prema Racing line up for the all-female F1 Academy 2024 season, where she will continue to represent Ferrari.

Photo credits: Dutch Photo Agency / Diederik van der Laan

Ferrari Driver Academy driver Maya Weug is set to make her debut in F1 Academy in 2024, joining the second edition of the all female series at team champion Prema Racing.

Weug, 19, most recently raced in Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, where she impressed with a highly competitive season, scoring points on six occasions and collecting all the 27 points for KIC Motorsport.

The inaugural winner of the FIA Girls On Track - Rising Stars programme that recently came to an end joined the Ferrari Driver Academy roster at the end of 2020 and was the first ever female Ferrari driver. As part of the Prancing Horse, Maya has contested two years in Formula 4, before stepping up to FRECA in 2023, immediately showing big potential. As hinted by Ferrari last month, Weug will be the Ferrari flag-bearer in F1 Academy, as all F1 teams have now been required to get involved in the all-female championship and line up a driver with the team's livery.

“I’m super excited to get back on track this season! I’m sure it will be a great season working together with such a prestigious team as PREMA in the second year of an interesting category like F1 Academy", Maya said. "It is a great honor to represent Ferrari again this season and I can’t wait to continue the hard work with the Academy and PREMA to prepare the season the best way possible!”

The Spanish-Dutch-Belgian driver started karting at the age of 7 and has competed in several top karting competitions across the years; from an outstanding victory in the WSK Final Cup in the 60 Mini category in 2016, to entries in WSK Super Masters, CIK FIA European Championship and FIA Karting World Championship.

Widely considered as one of the stars of the future after the karting career, Weug won the first edition of the Girls On Track - Rising Stars selection and was signed to Ferrari Driver Academy - which enrolled the young racer in the hyper-competitive Italian F4 championship.

At her debut with Iron Lynx, Maya had a very solid progression and, in fields of often over 30 drivers, she steadily battled just outside the top ten. Her first point would come at the 2022 season opener at Imola, where she immediately proved that she would be battling among the front runners throughout the season. Weug finished her sophomore campaign in 14th place, with 36 points to her name and with nine point-scoring finishes under her belt.

Having shown great potential, Maya was retained by Ferrari at the end of the season and stepped up to FRECA with KIC Motorsport. After a couple of rounds where she familiarized with the new machine, Weug had stellar outings from the Belgian round onwards, claiming a sixth place as best result and a rookie victory. She continued the point-scoring streak at Mugello and Le Castellet, often showcaing great racecraft in the battles and good qualifying performances.

With F1 Academy taking centre stage on the F1 support bill in 2024, Ferrari will therefore rely on the F4 experience of Maya Weug for its first year involvement in the series, with technical support from drivers and teams' champion Prema Racing.

"We deeply respected Maya as a competitor, and we were always impressed by her potential and achievements", commented Prema Team Principal Rene Rosin. "We are really delighted to finally get her on board for the second season of F1 Academy, and we think we will do a great job together."

"Our lineup is really promising, with three outstanding racers and the support of three great Formula 1 teams. We are proud of the trust we received and cannot wait for the season to start."

Maya joins Tina Hausmann at Prema, who enters her rookie season with Aston Martin - as well as Mercedes junior Doriane Pin. Prema is therefore the first team to complete its 2024 line up. Also confirmed for the upcoming season are Abbi Pulling - who returns to Rodin Carlin with Alpine - Bianca Bustamante (ART Grand Prix/McLaren), Lia Block (ART Grand Prix/Williams), Carrie Schreiner (Campos/Sauber), Chloe Chambers (Campos/Haas).

The first race of the 2024 season is scheduled for 8-9 March at the Jeddah Coniche Circuit, in support of the Saudi F1 Grand Prix.

Photo credits: Dutch Photo Agency